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I was thinking about a third post on Shostakovich but I started connecting the dots in my mind and ended up in Vienna.
For his second denunciation, Shostakovich was accused of “formalism”.
In the Soviet Union, formalism meant music that was concerned with form and technique instead of simple music that glorified the state.
Formalism in music usually refers to a formalist opinion of music. The formalist opinion is that the meaning of music is intellectual.
The opposing point of view is expressionist. The expressionist claims that an emotional response is where the meaning of the music lies.
The term expressionist got me to thinking about my favorite period of history.
The history of Vienna from the 1890’s up to the beginning of World War II is eternally fascinating.
Expressionism became an art form in different disciplines. The paintings of Gustav Klimt, the early music and paintings of Schoenberg, the music and conducting of Gustav Mahler, the plays of von Hofmannsthal, and the paintings and plays of Oskar Kokoschka can all be considered expressionist.
Who else was kicking during this period?
Architect Adolf Loos who developed the “form follows function” school of design as a back lash against the overly ornate industrialists and the pretentious architecture of The Ringstrasse.
Ludwig Wittgenstein founded the philosophy of logical positivism. Actually his followers did. If you’ve used the term “world view”, you’ve used the philosophy of Wittgenstein.
Sigmund Freud.
All these figures had one thing in common, they all read and followed the social criticism of one Karl Krauss.
Krauss was so important in this setting that Mahler gave his pupil, Bruno Walter, a collection of Krauss’ writings as a Christmas present and told him to study it very carefully.
Why would a composer give a conductor a book of social editorials and tell him to study it closely?
In this Vienna, all the disciplines informed the others in a way that was unprecedented. The paintings of Klimt influenced the philosophy of Wittgenstein who designed his own home in the style of Loos. Mahler was a frequent visitor in the Wittgenstein household and also had an epic therapy session with Freud. Klimt painted a portrait of Wittgenstein’s sister. Kokoschka constantly tried to seduce Mahler’s wife Alma.
The entire modern mindset after the first World War was outlined in Vienna.
All of this was fueled by a rebellion against the ideals of Hapsburg Austria.
Mahler perceived himself as alienated in Austrian society. He is quoted as saying he was, “... three times homeless, a Bohemian in Austria, an Austrian among Germans and a Jew throughout the world, everywhere an intruder, never welcomed.”
Below is Klimt's "Jurisprudence". This was commissioned by The University of Vienna but rejected as being degenerate and pornographic. Three furies, Truth, Justice, and Law surround the condemned man as he is crushed by an octopus. Jurisprudence was destroyed by the Nazi SS as they retreated in 1945.
I was thinking about a third post on Shostakovich but I started connecting the dots in my mind and ended up in Vienna.
For his second denunciation, Shostakovich was accused of “formalism”.
In the Soviet Union, formalism meant music that was concerned with form and technique instead of simple music that glorified the state.
Formalism in music usually refers to a formalist opinion of music. The formalist opinion is that the meaning of music is intellectual.
The opposing point of view is expressionist. The expressionist claims that an emotional response is where the meaning of the music lies.
The term expressionist got me to thinking about my favorite period of history.
The history of Vienna from the 1890’s up to the beginning of World War II is eternally fascinating.
Expressionism became an art form in different disciplines. The paintings of Gustav Klimt, the early music and paintings of Schoenberg, the music and conducting of Gustav Mahler, the plays of von Hofmannsthal, and the paintings and plays of Oskar Kokoschka can all be considered expressionist.
Who else was kicking during this period?
Architect Adolf Loos who developed the “form follows function” school of design as a back lash against the overly ornate industrialists and the pretentious architecture of The Ringstrasse.
Ludwig Wittgenstein founded the philosophy of logical positivism. Actually his followers did. If you’ve used the term “world view”, you’ve used the philosophy of Wittgenstein.
Sigmund Freud.
All these figures had one thing in common, they all read and followed the social criticism of one Karl Krauss.
Krauss was so important in this setting that Mahler gave his pupil, Bruno Walter, a collection of Krauss’ writings as a Christmas present and told him to study it very carefully.
Why would a composer give a conductor a book of social editorials and tell him to study it closely?
In this Vienna, all the disciplines informed the others in a way that was unprecedented. The paintings of Klimt influenced the philosophy of Wittgenstein who designed his own home in the style of Loos. Mahler was a frequent visitor in the Wittgenstein household and also had an epic therapy session with Freud. Klimt painted a portrait of Wittgenstein’s sister. Kokoschka constantly tried to seduce Mahler’s wife Alma.
The entire modern mindset after the first World War was outlined in Vienna.
All of this was fueled by a rebellion against the ideals of Hapsburg Austria.
Mahler perceived himself as alienated in Austrian society. He is quoted as saying he was, “... three times homeless, a Bohemian in Austria, an Austrian among Germans and a Jew throughout the world, everywhere an intruder, never welcomed.”
Below is Klimt's "Jurisprudence". This was commissioned by The University of Vienna but rejected as being degenerate and pornographic. Three furies, Truth, Justice, and Law surround the condemned man as he is crushed by an octopus. Jurisprudence was destroyed by the Nazi SS as they retreated in 1945.